All-Star Squadron #54 is an issue of the series All-Star Squadron (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1986.
Synopsis for "The Crisis Comes To 1942! (And Vice Versa)"
The year is still 1942. Amazing-Man has a horrible feeling something bad is going to happen. Superman flies to try to find this new Society of Oom in New York while Shining Knight flies over Philadelphia. Hawkgirl looks around with Sandy the Golden Boy, Robotman flies around with Dr. Occult to find the Society of Oom or any of the missing members of the JSA. Jim Harper is on the beat as a cop. Hourman is defeated by Gernsbeck at gin rummy, spoiling his mood. He decides to check on the others, but finds no one is reporting back. What’s more, he hasn’t heard back from Dr. Fate, who was last seen being teleported to the dark side of the Moon. Suddenly, the Green Lantern appears with Batman and Robin, having returned from Earth-S. He has no idea what happened to Firebrand or Johnny Quick or Liberty Belle, other than that they’re missing now. Hourman reports on the issues: Most of the JSA have mysteriously disappeared except for Dr. Fate, who was teleported to the Moon, Plastic Man, Phantom Lady, the Ray, Black Condor and Doll Man have all disappeared to go to Earth-X and Firebrand jumped into a hole in the sky following a woman in strange armor.
On the streets, the Society of Oom worry about what they’re doing (and Oom’s general lack of leadership,) only the Dummy being bold enough to openly defy him. Oom reveals his big plan is to just attack the All-Stars and punches a car to prove his strength and dominance as their leader. The Dummy asks to hold the Red Moonstone of Yzgartyl, but Oom decides to swallow it so no one can take it from him again. The Flash, meanwhile, saves Joan Williams from being ran over by a train, where she was tied to the track (for some reason.) He soon arrives at the Perisphere just as Amazing-Man and Tarantula return too. The Flash is worried to hear that this Red Sky problem is affecting other Earths as well and they can’t really tell if the Society of Oom is actually involved in any of this or just a weird coincidence. Suddenly, the All-Stars are distracted by an earthquake and Gernbeck falls over, crushing his head into one of the control panels. Outside, they find it’s being caused by a giant Mr. Who who is tearing the Perisphere loose of its moorings while Nyola casts more lightning on them and Oom shouts angrily. Mr. Who tries to bowl the Perisphere into the Trylon, only for Green Lantern to create a giant hand to stop it and fly the All-Stars out to safety. Green Lantern is shocked to hear that Hourman has stayed inside despite being powerless without his Miraclo. Green Lantern and the Flash team up to try to punch over Mr. Who together and Amazing-Man turns himself into rubber by touching a tire and wraps around Mr. Who’s legs to topple him. Batman manages to defeat Nyola by throwing a bat-bolo around her, stopping her from using her spells. Jim Harper stops a man from driving into the battle as Tarantula does a sick swing around to tie up Ramulus’ vines and kick him in the face, defeating him. Green Lantern manages to pin down Oom the Mighty with a green shield, only for the Dummy to drop kick him in the face due to him being made of wood. Oom is still furious, claiming he was about to defeat the Green Lantern soon. Hourman is shocked as Tarantula and Amazing-Man encounter a blinding white light and suddenly disappear and he lands next to Oom, who wants to kill Green Lantern. The Dummy points out they can ransom him for money instead, calling him a “big dumb ape,” which prompts Oom to order him killed. The rest of the Society of Oom disagrees with him and Oom backhands Hourman angrily, so the Dummy rouses Green Lantern and tells him to use his power on Oom’s chest and warns the Flash from running into him, saying they need magic to beat magic. Oom freaks out and then inflates and explodes before he can rip Hourman in half. The Flash manages to catch Hourman and the Dummy tries to betray Green Lantern and stab him in the neck, only for Dr. Fate to reveal he survived being on the Moon by huffing a hunk of rock that gives off oxygen somehow and then flew back to Earth manually. Green Lantern recalls that he remembers the Spectre telling him about the magic stone of Yzgartyl. The Society of Oom defeated, the rest of the All-Stars wonder where the rest of the teams are at and look to the Red Skies. Most of the team is aboard the Monitor’s ship, learning the story of him from the Harbinger… except for Firebrand, who is in the Old West! She demands to know who everyone is and finds among them are the Black Pirate, his son Justin, the Roving Ranger, Miss Liberty, the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, Don Caballero, the Trigger Twins (Walt and Wayne), the Silent Knight and Valda, the Iron Maiden. All of them have been teleported to 1985 where Firebrand promised to check up on Nuklon’s mother, Terri Kurtzberger (in the past) and has come to Cape Canaveral to do so. The antiquated heroes all say they’ll do their best to help and they head off to try to. They arrive at Cape Canaveral to find… it’s being attacked by Native braves, led by Super-Chief!
Appearing in "The Crisis Comes To 1942! (And Vice Versa)"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Black Pirate
- Don Caballero
- Golden Gladiator
- Justin Valor
- Miss Liberty
- Roving Ranger
- Silent Knight
- Trigger Twins
- Valda
- Viking Prince
Antagonists:
- The Monster Society of Evil IV / Society of Oom (Final appearance)
- The Dummy
- Mister Who (Final appearance)
- Nyola (Final appearance)
- Oom the Mighty (Dies) (Final appearance)
- Ramulus (Final appearance)
- Super-Chief
Other Characters:
- Alex Luthor
- Atom (Flashback only)
- Blok
- Blue Beetle
- Creeper
- Firestorm
- Gernsback
- Green Arrow
- Harbinger
- Joan Williams
- Martian Manhunter
- Nuklon (Flashback only)
- Plastic Man
- Star-Spangled Kid
- Sunboy
- Supergirl
- Tomahawk (Flashback only)
- Winged Victory
- Wonder Woman
- Olga (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Reprinted in Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion: Deluxe Edition Vol. 1.
- Miss Liberty states she was fighting alongside Tomahawk against the Redcoats when she was "plucked up from the year 1779".[1]
Trivia
- Tarantula refers erroneously to fauna while Ramulus uses his power to grow plants[2]. The correct term is flora.
- Dummy was able to knock out Green Lantern unconscious by falling right through a power ring-generated shield. Dummy, seemingly without explanation, is actually an animated wooden dummy in this issue. Green Lantern's Ring can't affect anything made of wood.
- In previous appearances, the Dummy was intimated to just be a criminal little person who used his resemblance to a ventriloquist's carved figure partner for crimes. Further appearances will only muddy this further.
See Also
Links and References
- ↑ Firestorm (Volume 2) #42
- ↑ : "Nice bunch of fauna you're growing there, Ramulus..." (page 12)
